Leaking pipe is draining popular lake

Army Corps of Engineers officials said Monday that a leaking pipe is helping reduce the level of Big Creek Lake.

Workers were at the lake Monday morning working to try to stop the flow of water from the leaking valve.

The water level has been dropping significantly with no big rain for months. It's losing about a foot a month.

A slide gate that controls the outflow at the diversion dam has been inoperable since 1998.

Army Corps spokesman Jeff Rose said the Corps is required to release 3 cubic feet per second into the creek, but 8 cubic feet per second is being released.

To try to slow the discharge, the Corps lowered 40 sandbags into place more than 35 feet below the lake's surface. Rose said there is no danger to flood protection since the lake is primarily used for recreation.

Rose said the gate hasn't been repaired for years because Congress never approved the funding to fix it. Rose did not have an exact figure on how much it would cost to repair the problem.

The Corps has designed a new slide gate for the site, but officials said they are not optimistic about getting federal funds this year and they are hoping for rain to keep Big Creek from going dry.

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